Major publishers are testing new ways to make their content more accessible to AI bots. USA Today Co. is reformatting articles to boost licensing deals and improve discoverability. The company is also tracking which bots access its site.
Publishers seeking to monetize their content in the AI era are now rethinking how they structure and present information online. USA Today Co. has begun testing new content formats designed specifically to improve how AI bots access, understand, and cite its reporting. The company aims to increase the discoverability of its journalism in AI-powered answer engines and secure more licensing deals with AI platforms.
Mike Reed, chairman and CEO of USA Today Co., told investors during an August 6 earnings call that the company is actively developing content for both human readers and machines. Reed said the shift in search behavior is opening up new opportunities to license, distribute, and monetize the publisher’s trusted news output. According to Kara Chiles, senior vice president of product management, the company is restructuring its content templates and formats to make them more machine-readable, which could help USA Today Co. stand out in AI-driven search results.
Chiles explained that the publisher’s efforts are part of a broader GEO strategy to optimize for AI platforms. USA Today Co. is experimenting with various approaches, including converting webpages into markdown and analyzing which content structures-such as guides or modular stories-perform best with AI crawlers. The company is also collecting data on which bots are accessing its pages and monitoring how often its content is cited in Google AI Overviews and other AI-generated summaries.
To protect its content and control licensing, USA Today Co. has adopted a bot-blocking policy similar to those used by The Atlantic, People Inc., Reuters, and Time. Chiles said the company blocks about 99% of self-identified AI bots by default, only allowing access to those with approved relationships. Reed emphasized that the goal is to build long-term, recurring licensing partnerships that recognize the value of USA Today Co.’s real-time news coverage. He noted that the company expects to sign more AI licensing deals this year and is working continuously to reformat content for these opportunities.
Industry experts believe that while content reformatting for AI will be adopted slowly, it could be worthwhile for publishers with unique or large-scale news offerings. Ameet Shah of Prohaska Consulting said that such investments may become more common as publishers redesign their sites and migrate platforms. In the meantime, larger organizations are likely to lead these efforts.
USA Today Co. is also exploring ways to make branded and sponsored content more visible to large language models, aiming to offer advertisers additional value. Chiles said the company is developing mechanisms to ensure that sponsored material can be surfaced distinctly for advertisers, though she did not provide further details.
Other publishers are also experimenting with agent-readable site versions and stricter bot controls. The underlying idea is that improved visibility in AI search can help publishers pitch GEO products and insights to brands, shaping how their messaging appears in AI-generated answers. For more on how AI agents are influencing advertising and the need for human oversight, see this analysis on AI-driven campaign governance.
USA Today Co. continues to monitor AI impressions, referral traffic, and the performance of different content formats as it adapts to the evolving landscape of AI-driven content distribution and monetization.
USA Today Co., part of Gannett, operates one of the largest newspaper networks in the United States. As of 2025, the company reported over 200 local daily publications and a digital audience reaching tens of millions each month. Its ongoing investments in AI optimization reflect a broader industry push to secure new revenue streams as traditional search and referral models shift.
